Cleaning apparatus



April 1951 E. P. ANDERSON 2,549,406

CLEANING APPARATUS Filed July 19, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet l PRESSVVRK,

REGULATOR I N V EN TOR. EdwardPAudeJ-so/v.

- A HOP/v5) E. P. ANDERSON CLEANING APPARATUS April 17, 1951 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed July 19, 1944 INVEN TOR m m M W d A Trap/V15) Patented Apr. 17, 1951 2,549,406 CLEANING APPARATUS Edward Page Anderson, Rutherford, N. J assignor to Bendix Aviation Corporation, Teterboro, N. J., a corporation of Delaware Application July 19, 1944, Serial No. 545,681

This invention relates to cleaning apparatus generally and more particularly to novel apparatus adapted for thoroughly washing and clean- .ing small mechanical or other parts such as,- for 1 example, bearings, gears, shafts, lenses, etc.

In the manufacture of small mechanical parts f oruse in precision instruments, the parts nor- -mally accumulate foreign materials thereon such as, metal chips, lint, dust and grease films and,

unless they are thoroughly cleansed prior t'olfinal Y assemblage, the instruments will .be faulty in foperationf This is especially true of small'parts To possessing inaccessible but critical surfaces. the end that such small mechanical parts may be cleansed "as thoroughly, as possible, the present invention contemplates the provision of anovel washingand cleaningapparatus with the use of which all foreign materialpresenton or adhering to such parts will be eliminated" therefrom.

An object of the present invention, therefore,

is to provide a novel washing and cleaning apparatus for cleaning small mechanical parts.

Another object of the invention is to provide a small, compact and novel apparatus of the nature described which will be portable in character. 1

A further object of the invention is to provide a novel method of cleaning sm'all mechanical parts. 7

The aboveand further objects and novel features of the invention will more fully appear from the following detailed description when the same is read in connection with the accompanying drawings. It-is to be expresslyunderstood, however,- that the drawingsare for purposes of illustration only and are not intended as a definition of the limits ofthe invention.

In the drawings wherein likereference characters refer to like parts throughout the several views,-

Figure l is a front perspective view of the novel washing and cleaning apparatus of the present invention; 7 h v Figure Zisa'schematic air flow diagram of the apparatus of Figure 1; v v

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of the apparatus shown in Figure 1; and,

Figure 41s a fragmentary detail view of a portion of the apparatus of Figure 1. p

In general, the present invention contemplates the use of clean, dry and preferably heated air under pressure for spraying, in the nature of a sand blast, a solvent on to the small mechanical part or parts to be cleaned. Figure 2 of the drawings is a schematic diagram illustrating the 1 Claim. (01. 2994s) path taken by the air utilized in carrying out the objects of the present invention and, as there shown, is conveyed by a conduit H) to the input of a moisture filter through a conventional pressure regulator valve l2, the output of the filter communicating through a conventional pressure gauge 3 with the input of a second filter I4 for cleaning the air, clean and dry air being thus available-at the outlet of filter M.

The clean, dry air passes through a conduit I5 to the interior of a heater .lt'which comprises generally an electrical resistor element I'l having oneend thereof connected to a suitable source of current through a conductor l8 and the other end thereof being connected to thesource through a conductor l9, a'fixed contact 20 and a movable contact 2| carried by a thermoplastic element 22,

the latter being designed so that at room temperature the two contacts will'be in engagement.

A switch 23 is interposed in conductor H3 and when it is operated to its closedposition, resistor element I'l heats up until apredetermined temperature is reached whereupon contact 2| disengages contact 2|! and resistor I! cools until contact 2| again engagescontact 20 to close the cirpanel 3| which is secured to the base by suitable means such as brackets 32, 33. Air under pressure is fed from a suitable source (not shown) to a control valve 34 which connects by way of a pipe 35 with a conventional pressure regulator valve 35 secured to the rear of thecontrol panel and having a control knob 31 at the front of the panel. The outlet of valve 36 communicates by way of a pipe 38 with a filter 39,'which may be of the porous stone type, so that moisture present in the'incoming air is removed therefrom and collects at the bottom of the filter where it may be drained when desired, a drain valve 40 being provided to this end. A pipe 4| is provided at the outlet of filter 39 and connects With the input of a filter 42', which may be formed from bronze wool v having a thin non-volatile oil film whereby the dry air passing through the filter is thoroughly cleansed. Interposed in the pipe 4| is a connection 43 leading to a pressure gauge 44 mounted 3 at the front of the control panel which indicates the amount of pressure flow in the system set in by knob 31.

The outlet of filter 42 is provided with a connection 45 having a pipe 46 connected thereto and arranged at the front of the control panel with two or more pressure taps 47 whereby cold, dry and clean air is available thereat. Another pipe 48 is also tapped to connection 45 and communicates with the interior of a heater 49, the heater having an outlet connection 50 provided with two or more pressure taps mounted at the front of the control panel.

For transporting purposes, two jars 52 are normally supported on base 39 and fastened within clamps 53 and 54 secured to the rear of the panel. In actual operation, the jars are removed from the clamps and placed in front of the apparatus with rubber tubes 55 (one of which is shown in Figure 4) joining taps 5! with nozzles 55 (Figure 4). Air nozzles 56 are surrounded by larger nozzles 51 whose interiors communicate with the interior of jars 52 by way of pipes 58. The jars being provided with a suitable solvent such as, chloroform, for example. A suitable control valve 59 is arranged in pipe 58 to shut off solvent flow to the interior of nozzle 57 when only heated air is desired at the nozzle outlet.

As shown in Figure 2, fixed contact 20 is screw threaded so that it may be adjusted as desired in its relative distance from the movable con tact and to this end, a knob 69 is provided on the front of the control panel. Current is supplied to heater 49 by means of a plug BI and a cable 52 shown in Figure 3. Also arranged on the panel is a switch 63, similar to switch 23 of Figure 2, for closing the circuit to the heater and a pilot lamp 64, similar to lamp 24 of Figure 2, for visuallyindicating the operation of the heater.

In operation, the operator may hold a mechanical or other part to be cleaned or stack one or more of such parts upon a suitable support and bring nozzle 57 closely adjacent the parts. Control valve 34 is opened to permit compressed air to fiow in the system and knob 37 is operated until the desiredpressure, as indicated by gauge 44, is attained in the system. The compressed air flows through filter 39 where all the moisture particles are removed therefrom through filter 42 where the air is thoroughly cleaned, and into heater 49 Where the dry, clean air is heated. The compressed air so processed issues from nozzle 56 to impinge upon the work piece. Valve 59 will have been opened so that as air issues from nozzle 56, solvent from jar 52 flows into nozzle 51 so that the device acts in the nature of an atomizer, a fine spray of solvent and air impinging upon the work piece.

Once the part is cleaned in this manner its temperature will have fallen below room temperature so that if the air and solvent is shut ofi abruptly, moisture will condense on the part and cause rusting thereof. To avoid this, once the part is cleansed, valve 59 is shut off and heated air alone is permitted to impinge upon the part to raise its temperature to room temperature and thereby prevent any undesirable condensation.

It will now be apparent to those skilled in the art that a novel apparatus for and a novel method of cleaning small mechanical or other parts has been provided, the method comprising the steps of drying, cleaning and heating compressed air, atomizing a solvent by means of the compressed air, and thereafter closing off the solvent and heating the part back to room temperature.

Although but one embodiment of the invention has been illustrated and described in detail, it is to be expressly understood that the invention is not limited thereto. Various changes can be made in the design and arrangement of the parts without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention as the same will now be understood by those skilled in the art. For a definition of the limits of the invention, reference will be had primarily to the appended claim.

I claim:

A washing and cleaning apparatus utilizing compressed air comprising an air drier, an air cleaner, and an air heater interconnected in series by pipes to the source of compressed air for drying, cleaning and heating the air; a tap-off connection in the pipe interconnecting said air cleaner and said heater, at least two pressure taps, one connected to the tap-off connection for clean, dry air and the other connected to the pipe leading from the heater for clean, dry and heated .air; a plurality of solvent containers, a nozzle fixed to each of said pressure taps, and solvent bearing nozzles connected to said solvent containers surrounding said first nozzles whereby a fine spray of solvent issues with the air stream.

EDWARD PAGE ANDERSON.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 218,337 Thomas Aug. 5, 1879 1,059,980 Cross Apr. 29, 1913 1,170,526 Gaither Feb. 8, 1916 1,198,045 Miller Sept. 12, 1916 1,276,659 Jensen Aug. 20, 1918 1,563,123 Wade Nov. 24, 1925 1,758,810 Austin et a1 May 13, 1930 1,779,849 Lusk Oct. 28, 1930 1,797,584 ONeill Mar. 24, 1931 2,093,240 Holmquist Sept. 14, 1937 2,136,513 Lednum Nov. 15, 1938 2,181,650 Briggs Nov. 8, 1939 2,340,832 Damme et a1. Feb. 1, 1944 OTHER REFERENCES Pages 16 and 17 of a catalogue entitledSpraco Industrial Finishing Equipment, published by Spraco, Incorporated, 114 Central Street, Somerville, Massachusetts. 

